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Volatility and rapid transformation define today’s modern business and traditional, static budgets just can’t keep up with the pace. You may ask yourself if continuous budgeting is the answer.
Spending less than you bring in is often cited as the most important non-profit finance goal. It helps you stay out of debt, save for emergencies and stash money away for future projects. It is the primary control that enables you to achieve some level of financial long-term stability. Many governments seem to forget this very basic fact. They don’t think that financial dead ends like what has happened in Greece can happen to them. Non-profits don’t have the luxury of continuous deficit spending; therefore, budgeting is essential to meet the objective of the organization. Budgets are simply the roadmaps to achieve strategic non-profit goals.
But, how do we make this whole process easier? How do we reduce the 5 major budgeting issues?
The answer to these questions is through using technology effectively in our organizations. Spreadsheets are not automation. Let’s get real and understand that they are only a tool. There are solutions available that can take the prior history from your accounting system and send it to the appropriate department manager. The information is in a format that they can use to easily create a new budget. This budget has all the related documentation available and linked to details for the budget information. The budget can then be rolled up into other levels, like divisions and organizations. With this setup, changes are easy to make, all being tracked and the approved budget can be quickly linked with your accounting system to provide timely reporting and improved decision making. These budgeting and planning systems can solve all the major budgeting issues and are very inexpensive to implement within organizations. (For more info Click Here)
So, let’s get real and understand that the current budget processes are a pain and result in significant amounts of wasted time and effort. Let’s use the existing technology, accounting and management processes to make our budgeting less stressful.
In the everchanging world of technology; if the software doesn’t fully integrate, then don’t use it. When you take the time to carefully review your current non-integrated systems you will find that they are costing you thousands of dollars each year. While many of these costs are hidden in additional administration wages, reduced productivity as well as supervisory staff, they are there none the less. One of our customers was running QuickBooks and had a custom program for project management as well as many excel spreadsheets. They felt that they had everything under control but on a detailed review we found that the additional reentry time into each one of these systems was costing them over $80,000 a year. In addition, a couple of the excel spreadsheets had major errors in them which likely cost them thousands more. Not very effective or efficient.
Now let’s think of a scenario where you allow everyone on a project, including the owner, project team, architects, engineers, and subcontractors to share information and collaborate. Think of the improved efficiency of being able to find and track documents as well as the project accounting transactions from the office or jobsite. In this scenario, you would experience seamless integration with job costs as well as having access to information like estimates, commitments, actual costs, and revenue. If you think this is not possible, or extremely expensive, think again. This technology and software solutions are available today in systems like Sage Project Center and at a reasonable cost that allows everyone with the required access to be informed while being more efficient. These systems will integrate seamlessly to the accounting department so everyone always has up to date information without the need to continuously re-enter the project data.
Project collaboration is a major management issue that all construction companies have. While manually, this is a nightmare, we can use technology to help with this problem; using fully integrated solutions to give greater visibility into projects. Yes, implementing one of the collaborative systems, can be disruptive, but with careful planning this can be minimized. Project management solutions simply help the project manager keep everyone informed easily and effectively.
Take a look at some of these solutions, they drive effectiveness and can help with your very survival.
To learn more contact Asyma Solutions.
While on a recent visit with a construction customer, they were showing me their new 500 sq ft filing room which contained nothing except the documentation on newer project files (the older ones were filed else where). Currently they photocopy each vendor invoice and then file them in the regular payable files as well as specific project files. All I could think about was what a waste of paper, space, time and energy. How much time was wasted filing and then trying to retrieve the required information? How timely was the project management decision making? How difficult was it to manage the project with all the information stored in the office?
Project management systems can not only eliminate this wasted time but also improve project management efficiency. Think of a world where your project files are available anywhere, anytime, with the click of a button. A world where you can also control who gets access to which documents and all documents are tracked as to who has viewed them and when. Think of a world where all change orders and related plan changes are delivered to everyone who needs them. Think of a world where project closing documents are easily complied and delivered. This world is not in the distant future but available now; an example is at technology called Sage Project Center which not only controls projects but is integrated with the office accounting systems as well.
You might be thinking; “I don’t really trust web based or electronic project management systems, I have manual systems that handle this now.” The problem is, what if your competition uses them? Or during slow economic times you need to reduce costs wherever possible. These systems simplify processes for projects from start to finish. Documents such as contracts, estimates, plans, blueprints and more can be stored much more efficiently and shared as required. It not only ensures that the correct people can review the documents but also it creates a trail so you can keep track of one another’s edits while preserving the document in its original form. This whole process reduces admin time, manager/supervisor time and reduces costs.
The Project managers can greatly reduce the time to monitor a project, control change orders and subcontractors. The accounting department can better track revenue and expenses by being able to match invoices directly to the related projects. Reducing administration time of filing, trying to find/retrieve project files and specific documents.
With the use of systems like Sage Project Center you can significantly reduce paper while greatly improving the efficiency of your project management processes. Consider one of these systems and it will give you a jump on the competition and the importance of how going green is an environmental bonus for your business as well.
Chances are you now want information on this technology. Contact Asyma today and we can help point you in the right direct. Our team will also be at BUILDEX Edmonton, Booth 716 if you are attending this year and want to chat.
It’s time to put your generic, off-the-shelf accounting software back on the shelf – accounting and job costing are the mainstay of any construction business, so you need a system that meets all of your construction-specific needs.
With Sage 100 Contractor, project commands are close at hand so you can intercept problems before they become issues. This includes:
The details shouldn’t control you, you should control the details – and with Sage 100 Contractor, you will.
Business growth and increased market share are important to strive for, but if your growth isn't organized, you'll end up investing unnecessary time, money, and manpower to go, essentially, nowhere.
You can prevent this, however, by implementing Sage 300 management and business accounting software.
These are the value-added benefits of implementing Sage 300:
As your business grows, it will outgrow its software – your new needs will no longer be met with small business accounting software – and it will be time for an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. An ERP system is integrated business management software that manages data across multiple business activities, including accounting, project/service management, inventory control, human resource management, timekeeping, customer relation management, ad-hoc/dashboard reporting and much more.
While QuickBooks software by Intuit is a necessity for many startup companies that can't afford an expensive accountant, there comes a time when something that handles more complex tasks is necessary. A business that outgrows QuickBooks and doesn't update its software will find itself losing ground to the competition until it shifts gears and gets a more robust platform.
Your company may be in danger of slowing itself down by staying with the software, but how do you know you have outgrown QuickBooks?
You've grown your business to its current state with basic software, and that's great – but as you continue to grow in both size and complexity, you'll need to find an accounting product that can "stretch" to provide for your new needs. With so many products on the market, it might seem overwhelming, but we have a few recommendations to help you find the best accounting software for you.